


I Don't Heichou

by MisselthwaiteManor



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Minor Violence, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:20:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29574510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisselthwaiteManor/pseuds/MisselthwaiteManor
Summary: Levi has kept his life pristine in order- a hard thing to do when you live in an apocalyptic world-, he's kept people at a distance since he lost the two people that were most important to him. But, as all of these stories go, that changes. He meets his polar opposite, Cassarah Yamazaki.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Original Character(s), Levi Ackerman/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

"I recommend Cassarah Yamazaki for the Special Units Squad," Zacharius states.

We're in Erwin's office right now, I'm leaning against the wall in my usual stoic manner, Erwin is sitting by his desk, his elbows resting on the wood surface, and Mike Zacharius is standing perfectly straight right in front of Erwin. We were meeting to discuss the transfer of a cadet and decide if she's truly ready to be part of my squad.

"And why is that?"

Zacharius takes a deep breath, he probably went over his pitch a hundred times before he came here. "She had top marks in all her classes, perfectly grasped the maneuvering lessons to the point she actually taught her peers how to do it, and she has already mastered everything we know in the medical field. She has read all of Hanji's journals and critiqued the theories and invented her own, some of which provide answers and shed light on the titans. The cadet has already killed seventeen titans during the attack on the wall and is close friends with Jaeger boy. She'd be a prodigy and would be a perfect member for your team, Levi."

I ponder it. She would be good for the team, she seems to have an exceeding amount of abilities and memory. And tolerance, I read one page of Hanji's journal and threw it into the fire, it was practically impossible to understand with the amount of tangents Hanji went off on and the medical jargon in itself would take years to understand.

"I'm for it if you have no objections Commander," I announce, looking towards Erwin.

The Commander shakes his head, brows furrowing slightly. "I have no objections either. She can transfer tomorrow. I recommend you inform her right away, Zacharius."

I nod my agreement and the meeting adjourned. We all make our way back to wherever our schedules take us. Mine just happens to take me to training the pesky brats.

The brats were all talking excitedly in a cluster, when I got there, not acknowledging my arrival. A twinge of annoyance runs through me. I am their superior officer after all, how dare they not maintain protocol.

"What's all this mindless chatter about brats," I demand cooly, refusing to let the annoyance seep into my voice.

They immediately silence and I mentally smirk. It's nice being in charge, especially when it shuts them up.

"Well?"

"We were discussing Hanji's new breakthrough in the anatomy of the abnormal titans," a feminine voice speaks up.

I turn my head towards the voice. The first thing I notice is that she's shorter than me, truly a feat. She has long, thick black hair that is tied back into two french braids. Her emerald green eyes dance with mischief and excitement. A thin, silver scar is across her left cheek, barely missing her eye and mouth. She's breathtaking, however, that's not going to stop me from reprimanding the brat for her blatant disrespect and disregard for authority. No 'sir' or 'captain'? She's not getting away with that.

"State your name cadet."

"Cassarah Yamazaki," she replies with a smile, completely unintimidated by me. I'm going to have to change that.

"Well, Cadet Yamazaki, you care to explain Hanji's new find?"

Her smile doesn't even falter, tch. "Of course. Hanji's breakthrough consists of the abnormal titans' vertebrae. It shows that there it doesn't grow back as quickly as the rest of the titan's body, but this differs from an average titan's form because all areas have the same effect when injured, excluding the eyes. It shows that if we aim for the back, we have a higher chance of hindering its movements, thus making them much easier to kill."

I'm shocked, not that it showed on my face. I expected her chicken out and definitely not understand one of Hanji's crazy theories. Only Hanji understands Hanji's theories.

"I'll give you this brat, you've got guts and brains. Now, use them." I leap forward and get my sword out of the sheath to attack her.

She just stood there as I got closer…. And closer…. And closer….

Suddenly, her leg swung upward, right between my legs, nailing me in the Ackerman family jewels.

I let out a long, pained groan and fall to the ground, clutching my damaged goods. All male cadets wince. Isn't kicking people there a no-no? Especially if that person is your squad captain and the one that could make your life a living hell?

"Whoops," she states nonchalantly.

Whoops?! That's all she has to say?! Not an ounce of guilt? Not even an apology? She's going to suffer an excruciating amount of pain for the time she's on my squad, I'll make sure of it.

That's when I hear laughter. I turn my head to see Hanji and Erwin bent over, tears leaking out of their eyes as they mock my pain. I'm going to give them something to cry about that's not nearly as pleasant as their feelings now.

Rage bubbles inside me. How dare she embarrass me in front of Erwin! And he laughed!

I let my facade break to show her my anger.

She's going to pay for this. This is just the beginning of her never ending torture. "Brat, I expect you in my office after dinner to do paperwork."

She nods, her smile still on her face as she turns to the Jaeger boy. "Looks like I can't help you with 3DMG, sorry."

"It's alright," Eren replies, throwing me a glare, "Mikasa can teach me instead."

Guess what Mike said was true, she did teach her fellow cadets and she's close to the Jaeger kid, poor choice on her part; the kid's an idiot

"Now, now, Levi, be reasonable," Erwin states, wiping tears from his eyes, "Her talent would be wasted doing paperwork. Plus, that isn't a good first impression for your newest squad member."

"My first impression with Jaeger was kicking him in the jaw and he's fine," I deadpan.

Eren gives me a look that says the exact opposite. Boohoo baby, take the kick to the jaw like a man.

"It's fine," Yamazaki states, still smiling, "I honestly don't mind doing paperwork."

Stupid brat, she just took all the fun out of punishment.


	2. Chapter 2

True to her word, she truly did not mind doing paperwork. Imagine. She also had the ability to talk while doing so, making her all that much annoying. That's the problem with brats nowadays, they never know when to shut up, much to my disdain.

"...ya see, so it makes absolutely no sense to rely on others going into the military when we don't have nearly enough resources to support our militaries, much less the current population. There have also been absolutely no movements to rectify this…"

And she also talks about the absolute weirdest and irrelevant topics. Who cares about agriculture? I certainly don't and she clearly doesn't see how close I am to banging my head against my desk until I either lose consciousness or bleed out.

"Kid." She stops her rambling and turns to me, her wide, green eyes clouded with confusion. "If you don't shut up and finish your work in silence, I'm going to do the same thing to you as I did to the titan brat during court."

Surprisingly, Yamazaki simply nods her understanding before continuing her work. She's almost all the way done with the stack and should be out of my office within the next ten minutes. Let's see if she can make it into half that time, I want her out of here so I can finally have some peace.

A knock comes from the door of my office. "Enter."

Erwin walks in. Whelp, it looks like I will not be getting what I want, the usual.

He nods at me and turns to see Yamazaki. His eyebrows arch in surprise and he throws a glance in my direction.

"The brat challenged authority and caused problems, so she's doing paperwork."

Nodding in understanding, he turns to her. "Cadet, you're dismissed for the night. I need to speak with Captain Levi about some pressing matters."

She stands up and salutes both of us. "Yes, Commander."

The door quietly clicks shut, her soft footsteps echo slightly as the distance between her and the office increases. Finally, she's gone.

"Yamazaki has already made an impression," Erwin states with a barely there smirk on his face as he seats himself across from me.

I snort. "Not the best impression, she's Eren with brain cells and talent. Definitely not the most rule following or obedient cadet I've dealt with."

Erwin lets out a low chuckle which causes some annoyance to flow through me. "You'll be fine, Levi. All the fresh blood struggle initially, you're quite a lot to handle."

"Does this meeting have a purpose, Commander? I doubt you came here for some shallow small talk and you don't usually beat around the bush."

He lets out a sigh, one that indicates some bad news he was hoping to avoid. "You have a new scouting mission. The orders were sent out earlier today. You'll be heading out in three days time."

Looks like we're going to see just how much these kids have learned. "Where to?"

"The Shiganshina District."

That's the Jaeger boy's old district. He constantly talks about how the wall fell and his backstory, like an ungodly amount. I have the whole story memorized from the fifty different times I've heard him talk about when he faces something mildly inconveniencing.

"What's the goal? Are we searching for some or killing as many titans as possible?"

"It's a scouting mission. Figure out what's left of the city and how many titans are there. However, no one's opposed to you taking down a few titans on the way back and this wouldn't be a bad way to test Cadets Jaeger and Yamazaki."

The Royal Government is watching us even more now, considering titan boy's newfound abilities. We have to be careful what we do and show our worth or we'll be next on the executioner's block.

"I understand. Am I expected to bring all of the new brats or is that left to my discretion?"

"I would bring as many as possible, it'll even out the load and pressure by having more to fight, and it'll give them more experience in the field. However, it's up to you. You have the final say here and I trust your decision making."

I nod in affirmation. He has a point, but we'll see what I decide here. Yamazaki still has to be tested and Jaeger most definitely needs the practice.

Erwin rises from his seat and holds out his hand, I copy his movements and grasp it. "If I get any new details in regards to the mission, I'll communicate them to you as soon as I can."

He takes back his hand and leaves my office, leaving me alone to make plans on what exactly I'm going to do with this new initiative.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, it's just a scouting mission?" Yamazaki asks from beside me, slightly bumping up and down from atop her horse. "No, titan killing or any reclaiming the city kinda deal?"

"No, Cadet Yamazaki, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but all we're doing today is observing how much of the city is overtaken and if there is any chance of getting it back. That relies entirely on _not_ going anywhere near titans and attempting to stay out of sight. That's why it's called a _scouting_ mission and not an _attack_ mission," I drawl, annoyed by the situation more than I am at her idiotic question. I'm out here in the middle of nowhere with two newbies that have a tendency to act before they think. It's almost like I'm on that vacation Erwin suggested!

She purses her lips at me, clearly displeased at my answer and tone. She's about to say something but Jaeger's horse approaches on the other side of her and catches her attention. Her and the titan boy have a quiet discussion which ends with Jaeger scowling in my direction.

"Captain! It's our job to kill titans isn't it? We're supposed to be out there making sure there are less titans to attack the cities!" he screams at me, causing Yamazaki to wince because of the sheer volume of his voice. That idiot can't be quiet can he?

"Hey, dumbass, maybe talk quieter? There could be titans anywhere and if there's a whole group of them, then I'm not sure if we can fight them off."

His face and ears turn pink at that. He's embarrassed, good, maybe it'll teach him to shut the hell up when we're out here.

"Second, we're on a _scouting_ mission. You guys don't seem able to comprehend that word. Do I need to require the both of you to read a dictionary and the official scouting manual when we get back to the base? It can be arranged and there will be a quiz at the end of it."

Jaeger grumbles under his breath, clearly upset by the lack of killing titans. Maybe I should continue to tell him that he's a titan, make sure he knows exactly what's going on. Yamazaki seems pretty unconcerned about the threat, unsurprisingly. I mean, the girl enjoyed doing my paperwork and did it in half the time I usually do, it's probably her hobby to read unnecessary and boring books. Tch.

"We'll be at the city in about three hours time. We'll take a break when we're roughly thirty minutes away and prepare everything. Yamazaki, you'll be documenting everything, Hanji said you were trained in the proper shorthand and terminology. Jaeger, me and you will be on the lookout for titans and any details that Yamazaki may accidentally miss."

I doubt she'd actually miss something, but there's always the possibility that someone's not on their top game. That's why there are two lookouts instead of one, less likelihood of missing a titan or any spare details.

They both nod in affirmation. Neither seem upset at their position or have any anxiety about the ideal. Surprising considering this is their first mission, and it's only the two of them and me. Any other cadet would be having a nervous breakdown.

A flash of red appears to my right, and I immediately reach to unholster my sword.

A shot rings out from my left, as I turn my head towards the red object. It's a titan and it has smoke coming out of its forehead.

I sharpen my senses as I bring up my sword. The clacking sound of a gun reloading is crystal clear as I gaze at the newly appeared titan. Crap.

It's on me for not expecting to run into a titan out here, they are everywhere after all. Also, I'm the one who's in charge here, I'm supposed to _plan_ for this sort of thing, but I got distracted. That will _not_ happen again.

As a gun is shot again, I charge towards the titan. One hand gripping the reins of my horse and the other firmly gripping my sword. I need to settle this issue as soon as possible and I have to stay back enough to have some protection. Jaeger and Yamazaki won't last long out here without me and we won't accomplish our mission.

The bullet blazes through one of the main tendons of the titan, weakening it. It lets out a cry of pain and gazes behind me, looking at whoever shot it with contempt as steam pours out of the open wound. I take this moment to speed up my horse, closing the distance and preparing for my attack.

I wait until the last possible second to jump off of my horse and swing my sword right at the major artery. It hits home and the titan collapses, paralyzed. I continue to hack at the titan until I'm completely sure the creature is fully dead.

"Captain, it looks all clear. No other titans in view," Yamazaki informs me as her horse gallops up next mine. She glances away from me to holster a shiny silver gun.

So she was the one who was shooting at the titan. Fast reflexes, she was able to unholster and shoot before I could even think about it. And she didn't miss; she hit its forehead dead center.

Jaeger comes up on his horse, holding the reins of my own. I remove myself from my place on the titan and take the reins from him. "Thank you, Cadet."

He nods in response, glancing around in suspicion. It's as if he expects a whole hoard of titans to suddenly appear, not that such caution is unwanted or unwarranted. In fact, I should probably be showing this level of concern, considering we were just attacked by a titan.

"We'll continue on, but clearly we need to keep a better eye out. There's usually another titan around and we don't want to be caught off guard again. Not many people live when they come in contact with a titan and they're unprepared," I state stoically, meeting both of their eyes, "Now. let's get a move on. I want to be in and out of the city before nightfall, so we have to get moving."

They nod their heads in understanding, following my lead as I hop onto my horse and head off into the direction of the city. It's only a matter of time before we get there and I have an off, nagging feeling about this whole ordeal. Something is wrong about this place and the city, I just don't know what.


	4. Chapter 4

We arrive at the city with no more issues and rather uneventfully, not that I'm complaining. I'd prefer to deal with zero titans, but apparently we can't all have what we want in life.

Despite the lack of titans for the rest of the trip, I'm still completely on edge. I feel like a whole horde of titans are going to suddenly jump out when we're not expecting it and rip us to shreds in seconds. Not exactly the happiest thought, but hey, it's better than being caught off guard.

The cobblestone roads of the city are still intact, causing the hooves of our horses to clack against them- louder than I would like- as we make our way further into the city. The roads are slightly overgrown, vegetation and various types of moss creeping out between the cracks and covering the edges of each stone. More moss covers the edges of the buildings, slowly climbing up the deteriorating walls and dying wood.

"This city hasn't been visited in _years_ ," Yamazaki states, her eyes analyzing every nook and cranny, "Or, at least, this part of the city. No one has been in any of the buildings and no titans have been out here. The moss and other green stuff would be squashed or look unnaturally grown. All that I can see looks like they've grown without any interruptions or disturbances."

Her analysis is completely correct. And if you turn and look at where we've walked through, we became the first disturbance in years for these plants. Feeling kinda bad about it, not gonna lie. Sorry, Mr. Moss to disturb your resting place and basically ruin all growth you made for the past decade, it will happen again, but I'll probably apologize.

"Yamazaki, take out your notebook. You'll start taking notes and make sure to write everything down. We need all the information we can." Yamazaki nods at my words, clearly understanding how important her paying attention is to this whole mission. "Jaeger, me and you are on look out, unholster your weapon so you're ready in case anything happens. We won't be caught off guard like we were earlier."

He nods in understanding and his eyes sweep across the landscape, alert and ready for absolutely anything.

Yamazaki pulls her leather bound notebook out of her pack and a writing utensil. She writes as if her life depends on it. We've only been in the city for five minutes and she writes like she's discovered a million new things. I mean, I _did_ tell her to write absolutely everything she could think of down. Hanji's going to have a blast sifting through all the information and coming up with theories surrounding it.

Nothing is really standing out as we continue our way throughout the city. Most of the buildings are completely ransacked and have nothing of importance or any real relevance. Rotten food, rats, and deteriorating infrastructure isn't a new concept when it comes to these kinds of cities and it's always expected, especially considering how this city has been abandoned for over a decade.

We hit an hour of exploring and you can tell how tense and bored Jaeger has gotten; he's itching for a fight or something alive that isn't a form of rodents.

"Captain," Yamazaki whispers, barely audible, "Look."

I turn towards the spot her eyes are glued to. Small, round indentations are in the greenery of the cobblestone path.

I've been mentally keeping track of where we've turned and which roads we've used, so I know for a fact that we didn't take one step down this path.

The indentations clearly don't belong to an animal, rat's feet don't look like that and they're much too small. And they're not in only one spot, it's clearly several steps in an exact and definite direction. The footsteps are clearly in the shape of a human foot, but most definitely not one of ours. We haven't gotten off of our horses once since we got in the city.

Jaeger and I lift up our swords in order to be completely ready. We're now on high alert, someone was here recently and could very well be in the area still.

"Jaeger, go right behind Yamazaki, I'll keep guard up front. Yamazaki, be ready to get the hell out of here if something happens." She purses her lips and opens her mouth to argue with me. "I'm not arguing with you, this isn't up for debate. You have all the information and Erwin wanted us to come here for that. You will be going back with it, alone if necessary."

She looks like she still wants to fight me, but nods anyways, her face still in a slight scowl. She's more like Jaeger than I thought; she clearly has the no man left behind mentality and I have a feeling she might try to defy orders if the worst happens.

Before I can reprimand her further, the sound of a branch snapping rings out. Instantly, we all turn in that direction and have all of our weapons pointed directly at the source.

I silently hold my free hand up, indicating for the two cadets to stay behind as I investigate the source. I hop off of my horse noiselessly and make my way towards where the sound came from, holding my sword directly in front me. If something comes at me this close, I'll need to be fast.

Walking on the balls of my feet, I'm hunched slightly as I make it closer and closer to the source.

Another crack sounds and a bush slightly shakes. Whelp, I found the exact source of the noise.

As I inch closer and closer, blood thrums loudly in my ears. There's no room for messing up at a time like this.

Suddenly, I hear a slight sob followed by a whimper and I freeze as recognition runs through me.

Oh no no no. You've got to be _kidding_ me. I mentally swear, I wasn't expecting this of all things.

I sheath my sword and crouch. Looking directly at the bush, I put on my most friendly place and whisper comfortingly, "Hey, it's alright, come on out. I'm not going to hurt you."

Slowly, a small form crawls out of the bush, its eyes looking at me in suspicion. It's a tiny girl, covered in dirt so thick you can't tell what color her hair is.


	5. Chapter 5

Before I can completely comprehend there's a random child in the middle of nowhere that just climbed out of a bush, the resounding boom echoes throughout the city. The ground shakes as if a high level earthquake suddenly erupted.

Yamazaki lets out a gasp. "There's a titan!"

Oh crap. This is the worst possible time for a freaking titan to show up. I turn to the small child and speak with urgency. "Sweetie, we need to leave. Big evil titans are here and we need to protect you. We need to find some place to hide."

She looks at me apprehensively, suspicious of my words and who I am. However, her face quickly contorts into fear as her eyes land on something behind me.

Whelp, apparently the titan is closer than I thought. I turn to the two cadets. "We have to go, _now_."

I look at the child apologetically, I don't have much of a choice when it comes to her and I'm not heartless enough to leave the poor thing for dead. So, I grab her around her waist and hoist her up, sprinting over to my horse so we can get the hell out of this place before anyone winds up dead.

I seat her on the horse before jumping on myself, grabbing the reins. After some encouragement, the horse takes off in the opposite direction of the titan. We have a slight disadvantage heading into a city we don't know our way around, but we're trapped and it's our only chance of making it out of here alive. I would personally take on the titan if I knew that more wouldn't be showing up and there wasn't a small child currently in my care, but hey, here I am working through the issues.

Not caring much for being discreet at the moment, our horses gallop ferociously and with what would be incredibly loud noise if the titan walking wasn't louder.

The thunderous stomps follow us, progressively getting closer and closer with each second. They had to move much faster and find a place to hide. The abandoned buildings barely hindered the beast's movement.

Taking a sharp turn down a dark alley, I hope desperately that the other side isn't a dead end. Luckily, a bright green landscape peaks out on the other side. Finally, a way out of the city and some place to hide.

I speed up as the most recent footstep sounds impossibly close. As I come out the other side of the narrow alley, I observe my surroundings.

"Look! A cave to your left, Captain!"

My head snaps in the supposed direction of a cave, my eyes land on it immediately. We need to get there, stat. It looks like it's just big enough for our horses to make it in, nowhere near big enough for a titan to fit his hand through, much less his entire body.

"Straight to the cave!" I order, encouraging my horse to change direction. Gripping the horse and the child in front of me tightly, we take off towards safety.

We reach it in record time, and going through the alley appeared to handicap the titan, putting us more and more distance away from possible death. Hopping off the horse, I move the child off of it. "Quick, go in there, we need to hide."

Her eyes flicker from me to the cave fearfully, as if she doesn't really know how she got herself in this situation anyways, but she knows that it somehow got blown out of proportion. However, she pretty easily goes into the cave with zero argument. Thank goodness.

I head straight into the cave, gripping the reins of my horse. The cadets follow my lead and when head deep enough into the cave so we don't have to worry about any titans showing up.

We stop several feet after where it turns pitch black. I don't want us to go too deep so that we don't know how to get back, but we need the titan to not be able to see us so he'll leave.

Everyone is dead silent as we hear the footsteps get progressively closer and closer. The small girl is shaking like a leaf next to me. I would comfort her, but I'm not exactly sure what to do. I settle to gently pat her head and try to calm her down. I don't want her to risk making any noises that could capture the titan's attention.

The footsteps halt completely, an eerie quietness hanging in the air.

We all stand there, quieter than we'd been before, praying for whatever happens next be something that doesn't kill us.

After what feels like eternity, thunderous footsteps continue their route, quieting each time. When the sounds turn to nothing but a distant whisper, we all let out the breath of air we were holding. Looks like we got out easy for now.

"Captain," Yamazaki starts, getting my attention, "What's our plans for the mission? And the child?"

Not giving me one second to breath apparently. She's ready to just truck along.

"It's getting late, so we'll set up camp here. Tomorrow, we're back to surveying. However, I'm not sure what to do with the kid."

I glance at the child, who's calmed down somewhat, luckily. I genuinely don't know what to do with this kid.

"Hey, sweetie, do you have a place you live? Or someone we can take you back to?"

She looks at me with wide eyes and shakes her head.

Great, now I have to take care of two cadets and basically a toddler.

"Let's get some rest, we have a lot of stuff we need to do tomorrow and the sooner we complete this mission, the sooner we can get back. I'll take watch for the first shift."

The cadets nod at me and we set up sleeping bags. Thank goodness I brought a spare one.

They're all out pretty quickly, leaving me to debate the pros and cons of continuing this mission and doing so with another person, who's a complete stranger and a child.

I knew there was something off about this mission.


End file.
